November 15. KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky

 

Recap

 

On Saturday, the Louisville Cardinals defeated the Ohio Bobcats by a score of 106 to 81, thanks to their efficient shooting and aggressive defense.  The game began with back-to-back Isaac McKneely threes to give the Cards the lead from start to finish, but the first half’s physicality gave viewers the thought that the contest could turn sloppy or “chippy” at any moment.  Halfway through the first 20 minutes, Louisville’s Kasean Pryor and Ohio’s Aidan Hadaway got tangled up after Adrian Wooley (Louisville) made a three from the wing and were immediately separated, resulting in a flagrant one for Pryor and a technical foul for Hadaway.  In a physical and fatiguing first half, it concluded with a combined twenty-one fouls and twenty-nine free throw attempts as Louisville led 59-44.  

 

The first 4:35 of the second half was sloppy but efficient for the Cards.  Three of Louisville’s first eight possessions concluded with turnovers, but the Cards and Bobcats matched in scoring with 10 apiece going into the first media timeout, led by Jackson Paveletzke and J’Vonne Hadley with 5 points each.  It was not until the under-12 timeout that the Cards would put the game away and lead by more than 20 points.  Louisville would finish the game with a 25-point victory over Ohio and improve to 4-0 to begin the season.  

 

In what was their best shooting performance of the regular season behind the arc, the Cards shot sixteen of thirty-five from three with senior Ryan Conwell making five of his ten attempts behind the line and finishing with 22 points.  Six Cardinal scorers finished in double figures, including all five starters.  Missing his lone attempt, Sananda Fru was the only starting Card without a made three in Saturday’s contest.  

 

Ohio senior guard Jackson Paveletzke led all scoring with 28, going eight of fourteen from the field and nine of ten from the free throw line.  In a 25-point defeat, the Bobcats held with Louisville’s high-tempo offense as they got to the line effectively, crashed the boards, earning twelve offensive rebounds, and got four players in double figures.  Ohio struggled to protect the ball, however, turning the ball over eleven times in the first half and finishing with seventeen when the final buzzer sounded.  Louisville committed seven of its eleven turnovers on Saturday in the second half, but matched with eleven steals, with Conwell clawing three of the eleven.

 

With Saturday’s defeat, Ohio fell to 1-3 on the 2025-26 season but hopes to bounce back on Wednesday when they host Bethune-Cookman, a fellow 1-3 team, to kick off the Sunshine Slam early-season tournament.

 

Preview for Louisville vs. Cincinnati

 

This Friday, November 21, will mark the 101st meeting between the Cardinals and Bearcats after renewing their longtime rivalry for a two-game series coined “The Hoops Classic,” with games taking place in each team’s former home arena.  This season’s game will be played in Cincinnati’s former home arena, the Heritage Bank Center, where the Bearcats hosted the Dayton Flyers each of the past two seasons.  Cincinnati went 1-1 in those two games, losing to the Flyers in 2023’s matchup.  

 

The rivalry between the two programs was last played in 2022, when the Bearcats beat Louisville in the Maui Invitational 81-62.  In this rivalry, when both teams played across five conferences (Missouri Valley, Metro, Conference USA, Big East, American Athletic), Louisville leads the 100-game series 56-44.  The first meeting took place in 1921 and is Louisville’s oldest rivalry (Cincinnati and Miami of Ohio have met 132 times).  Naturally, this is a must-add game for both programs as well as other former foes from the five conferences shared between the two.  

 

This matchup will also have a homecoming factor as two members of the basketball program grew up in Cincinnati.  Head Coach Pat Kelsey went to Elder High School and continued his basketball career at Xavier, while senior guard Kobe Rodgers attended Saint Xavier High School in Cincinnati before beginning his college career in Division Two and being recruited by Kelsey at College of Charleston.  When asked what this game means for Kobe Rodgers, the guard from Cincinnati replied, “Yeah, it’s really cool. You know, this is the first time I’ve ever been able to play [in college] in Cincinnati… It’s gonna be an exciting game and a big-time matchup, and I’m blessed to be able to play in that game.”

 

This will be a fun matchup as both teams have begun the season 4-0 with solid guard play and big men who do not shy away from physicality.  Senior forward Baba Miller is currently averaging a double-double for the Bearcats at nearly sixteen points per game and ten-and-a-half rebounds through four games.  The 6’11” Spaniard made stops at Florida State and Florida Atlantic before finding a home in Cincinnati, and has been the best player on the floor early into the season for the Bearcats.  This is a taller team for Sananda Fru, Aly Khalifa, and the Cardinals, with 7’2” center Moustapha Thiam averaging twelve and eight.  The Cards have a few avenues to win in their first time away from the Yum Center this season; however, they shoot much better than their old foe and have a much faster pace of play.  If the Cardinals control the pace much like they did against Kentucky and continue to shoot well from three, Louisville should win the first half of this two-game series of the renewed rivalry.

 

The matchup will take place on Friday at 6:30pm ET on ESPNU as both teams will want to remain undefeated.  Next year’s matchup is scheduled to occur at Freedom Hall, an arena the Louisville Cardinals called home from 1956-2010.

 

Prediction: Louisville 87, Cincinnati 76